PRESS

Praise for Concise & Sinister

(2018)

“Versatile, consistently engaging and and resistant to the formulaic, Spider Kitten’s latest full length is every bit of its title, a sinister statement of concision that will further cement their place in the UK cult music hierarchy. Long may their Melvinsian odyssey into the beautiful and the batshit continue.”

– Punktastic

“Whether fast or slow, loud or quiet, the intention of Spider Kitten doesn’t seem even at its most abrasive to be to punish so much as to challenge, and whether it’s the cinematic elements dug into the march of opener and longest track (immediate points) “A Glorious Retreat” (11:33) or the harmonies that accompany especially-doomed 10-minute closer “Martyr’s Breath,” Spider Kitten and founder Chi Lameo demonstrate a creativity acknowledging that bounds exist and then simply refusing to accept them, making even the familiar seem unfamiliar in the process.”

– The Obelisk

“Forged by the illegitimate Doom baked and blasted sons of the mescaline picked The Mothers of Invention , Spider Kitten, Concise & Sinister clings to the eclectic and eccentric ideology that Frank Zappa harnessed like a weapon,, breaking down conventional musical stereotypes allowing his music to spread, like a virus, in the collective psyche of everyone who seeks and demands more from music than a simple one, two repetitive beat and syrupy, sweet hook. Veering between haunting, drawn out, slowed down, hyper heavy dirges, raging d-beat infused metalcore (featuring a guest appearance from lovable lunatic Paul Catten) and outlaw country, Concise & Sinister is a challenging, yet strangely immediate and accessible record that ignores the boundaries defined by the genre addled rules of the underground in order to chart it’s open path and subvert the mainstream the only way Spider Kitten know how; through the power of music. Get ready for the ride of a lifetime… “

– Mass Movement

Praise for Ark Of Octofelis

(2016 Undergroove)

“SLAB-HEAVY SCI-FI CONCEPT ALBUM CONFIRMS WELSH DOOMSTERS’ BRILLIANCE. Twenty seven releases in, you think you’d know what to expect from heavyweight Newport quartet Spider Kitten. You’d be wrong, of course, because bands this prolific – see also: Melvins – are constantly on the move. This concept album tells a tale of ambition, betrayal and hubris on the fictional planet Octofelis (stoner-speak for Eight Cats or something), where rocking ’70s psychedelia literally rules the world, and the unhinged experimentalism and crushing grooves on display couldn’t seem more otherworldly had they fallen directly from outer space. Split, vinyl-style, across two sides, and bookended by the succinctly titled Underestimating The Consequences Of Effective Propaganda Parts One and Two, we get a first half dominated by the 22 sprawling minutes of Feline Will, before comparatively short nuggets The Ark and Launch burn like asteroids through the record’s second half. Overwhelming? Perhaps. Ridiculous? Quite, yeah. But this brings whole new meaning to the phrase HIGH-concept.”

– (KKKK) Kerrang

“Spider Kitten have always been a wildly ambitious band for their fifteen-year existence, but most of that time has been spent underground and unheralded in South Wales. Now they’re getting a shade more attention, thanks in part to a well received Norse-themed doom album (‘Behold Mountain, Hail Sea…’); this follow up takes another sharp turn, and is probably the best thing thing they’ve ever done. Two side-long tracks, again with a nebulous concept, ‘Ark Of Octofelis’ shifts focus from slo-mo death ballad to buoyant, synth heavy ’70s prog to crystalline instrumental folk to barrel-chested doom to quasi-industrial repetition and back to the death ballad again. It doesn’t sound like it’ll hang together at all, but really does, and is legitimately excellent.”

– (8/10) Terrorizer

Praise for Behold Mountain, Hail Sea, Venerate Sky, Bow Before Tree

(2014 Undergroove)

“A Norse epic in EP form from the Welsh lunatic fringe that is Spider Kitten…its epic third and closing track sounding like Melvins tackling Stairway To Heaven”

– Metal Hammer

“This…is the the sound of sludge flowing in instinctive rivers before it has time to harden and crack. Featuring members of Taint, Iron Monkey and Crippled Black Phoenix , this is a rewarding and brutally heavy offering, but it’s the folk inflections of Gore Swan that really stand out. …This is the sound of a band on inspired form”

“Combining elements of doom and sludge metal, stoner rock, prog and more, Spider Kitten are one of Wales’ best kept secrets, their driving percussion and sublime fuzz of their guitars balanced by the hypnotic vocals.”

– Metal Hammer

“This, dear friends, is psychedelic doom, and it’s bloody heavy at that. What sets this apart is vocalist Chi Lameo. It’s as if the spirit of Layne Staley possessed Wino and taught him how to sing. Often catchy, sometimes mournful, but always colossal in power…fucking mind-trampler of a record.”

– Power Play

“This sort of thing isn’t normally my jam, but it’s so well done, you can’t help but be lured into their web”

– Zero Tolerance

“From the bullish automaton stomp of Twin Obscenities’ ultra-doom through to the album’s final, slo-mo descent into a lysergic netherworld, Cougar Club is a beast of an album that’s easy to get into but bloody impossible to forget.”